I'm Chris and I am addicted to yard sales, garage sales, thrift stores and bargain hunting in general. Visit my site yardsalequeen.com - which I started in 1996.
"Smile" and "VV" (Vintage Value) are the names of two thrift stores I regularly shop at.
I grew up in Clifton Park NY but now live in Lusby, MD. I also lived in other exciting locales such as Schenectady, Watervliet (NY), and Charleston, SC.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I got a call yesterday from our local Chick-fil-a saying that I won a food tray (they have a fishbowl thing to drop your business card into). The woman was adamant that the tray had to be picked up before 10:30 and that I needed to pick it up this week. So I figured I'd get it today, but the 10:30 seemed pretty early. Well duh...as it turned out, I won a breakfast tray (chicken mini's), so now the breakfast hour thing makes sense.

My yardsale shopping time was limited on Saturday because of having a yardsale at the fairgrounds. But I still managed to buy some stuff and get some great freebies from the other sellers. And I was able to shop at two rare Friday yardsales (Friday yardsales only occur once in a blue moon here).

The broken exit signs were free (will throw away the casing/electrical crap) and just put the up the signs in Jacob's room. He likes signs.

The seller next to me at the yardsale had a TON of free McDonald Happy Meal toys. She had 4 bags full of the Wizard of Oz toys, so I took two bags. I wanted to take them all, but I think she was suspicious of me, like I was gonna resell them or something. haha. Anyhow, I think the seller wanted to give the stuff to a "customer" not another "seller". Whatever. I think if you put a "FREE" sign on a box, you ought to be prepared that someone - anyone - will take the entire box. Or multiple boxes if you have several boxes marked "free". If you don't want that, then put some sort of disclaimer like "one per person" or something.

paid .25 for the two Hard Rock pins, $1 each for the clothes, $1 for the Dental Organizer from Bed, Bath & Beyond (original price $9.99), free white ceramic pottery, free vintage carolers, .25 each - two copies of Parenting magazine, including the June 2009 issue, which YSQ is mentioned in (page 49). I think you have to subscribe to that magazine to get it, since I couldn't find it for sale in any store. Good thing I guess, since I only paid .25 for it. The article was written by a freelancer, so I don't feel comfortable asking them to send me a copy. One of these years, I need to update my Media page. Paid $1 for Revolution Dice (ebay), .50 Home Interior candle.

Here's a pic of after I unloaded the stuff: (the space in between is a walk-way for the customers)

And a pic "after". I ended up selling about $235 worth of stuff. It does look a little deceiving since it looks like there is more than there is, since the trunk just has empty bags and boxes inside. But I still got that darn golf cart though. I will try to craigslist it. I sold the Little Tikes Garden center for what I paid for it years ago - $5. BUT I kept the veggies & mail that go with it and will sell that individually since those alone sell for $25. Crazy.

And since I wasn't feeling so great on Thursday, I forgot to mention my Wednesday bargain. Cheap toilet paper! How cheap? .25 a package. Walgreens had it on clearance (normally .99 a package). I put $3 worth in my cart (yes, I left some for others to buy) and "paid" with it with a $3 Register Rewards.

Friday, June 26, 2009

I really do have junk in my trunk. My car is loaded up to have a yardsale tomorrow at the fairgrounds (which turns into a mini flea market on Saturdays, $10 rental spaces).

Today I was able to go to two rare Friday yardsales. Will post my buys later this weekend, I'm hoping to do some shopping tomorrow at the other vendors who have set up.

I felt like crap all day yesterday, so most of the loading up of the car happened today.

Well gotta run. Gotta get my Jackson 5 Victory Picture album listed on eBay (I bought it at a thrift back in the late '80's when I read that picture disks are collectible) Yes, I know some people think its morbid to sell souvenirs of the recently deceased, but you gotta strike while the iron is hot. And I look at this way, I am providing a souvenir/collectible that some Michael Jackson fan will cherish forever. (Rather than having it collect dust in my album collection where no one can see it).

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My only bargain of the day was at Walgreens. I have a bunch of $3 Register Rewards to use from last week and it works great since I can get the sale Aquafresh toothpaste for $3 and get ANOTHER $3 register reward. It's like a never-ending cycle of free stuff. Then from a couponing website, I read that the Oreo Cakesters are ringing up at 2 for $5 (even tho the sale sign says 2 for $7), and it prints out another $3 Register Rewards. So basically it's $1 a box.

I checked the stats of my Google Ad, and after 1200 "impressions", it brought only 9 people to the site. So....I did some editing. Will try this one out and see what happens. There is limited space - only 35 characters per line. So if you have a funny idea for an ad for me...feel free to post a message and maybe I'll use it. I might as well have some fun with it.

I did an interview today with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper for an article (supposed to be printed July 11).

Monday, June 22, 2009

I'm trying something new today....I started a Google Ad Campaign. But I am not paying for it (I need to save my money for yardsale shopping!) I got a free $50 Google Ad credit thru my web hosting company. So I will just cancel it once the credit dwindles to $0.

When setting up the ad, you got to choose keywords that appeared in their categories. Under the Yardsale category "yard sale queen" was one of the choices. I thought that was funny - that Google Ads thinks highly enough of yard sale queen to put it as a potential keyword for others to use.

Don't worry...I am NOT going to have Google Ads running up and down the side of my blog or website. I know people make money doing that but I don't like the way it looks. I think it clutters up a website, and you know how much I hate clutter. haha.

Well here's the stuff I got on Saturday. I think my best buy is the new California King sheets for $10 (seller bought them on clearance for $31 plus tax - I paid $10. I think the last time I bought sheets, I had to buy them from Amazon since California King is so hard to find. Regular king and CA king are two different sizes.

My morning yardsaling route got changed around since at 8am (I had left the house at 6:30am), DH called to tell me that he had to go into work unexpectantly. So I needed to go home and get Jacob. The nuke plant can wait...don't they know who I am and that Saturday morning is "my" time? Apparently the nuke plant didn't care. So I went home, got Jacob and continued yardsaling.

A video of my buys (Whiskey was sleeping when I filmed this, so he didn't make an appearance)

This morning I got an email from one of my advertisers, who is interested in having me run some contests on my blog. So....stay tuned...hopefully I'll have some giveaways soon. I still have an extra copy of Garage Sale America that I've been meaning to give away. I just gotta come up with a giveaway idea.

And if you're a first time visitor here, cuz you found me via Rhoda's Southern Hospitality blog, welcome and come back often. I'll be here.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Here is a game that we've discussed before on my Message Board so I was excited when I found it at one of my thrifts a while back. I have it listed on ebay and its currently bid up to $83 with one day to go - my ebay listing

But the real reason of this post was that earlier I forgot to mention that another one of my pics made it to the lowercase L bLog I took the PlAY BALL cake pic (I also submitted it to the Cake Wrecks blog, so maybe someday it will be there too.

Here's a pic I took last weekend. The seller had vintage cans of beer for sale. I bought 0 yard sale beers. Beer is not my cup of tea. (I can't take credit for that line, my mom actually said that exact line few Sundays ago during our weekly phone call. It was during a typical call, where she was discussing in fine detail all the food and beverages that were available at a function she attended).

Week 1 of Jacob's summer vacation has ended. I managed to make one quick trip into Smile with him this week. Bought nothing. But then again, we were only there about 10 minutes...I need more time than that to browse and re-browse and make several loops around the store. Here's a pic of Jacob invading the personal space of a mannequin.

You can see a little of what my favorite thrift Smile looks like inside. It's so clean, and bright and nice....I just love it there. I always joke with the volunteers there that they should just put a cot in the backroom for me since I practically live there. I inquired about volunteering there a while ago, but the only time they had available was on Saturday mornings. Umm....I don't think so....I have other plans scheduled for Saturday mornings. So I just shop there and do my best to help out while I shop (collecting empty hangers off the racks when I find them, etc). Like the other week, someone had torn open a baggy of all these little thingamajigs that were going all over the place, so I gave it to a worker so that it could be re-bagged without making a bigger mess.

Did some yardsaling yesterday...nothing too great. Some yard sales were real duds yesterday. Will post my buys on Monday.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I came across this AARP article today which lists some tips on what do bring if you are going to the World's Longest Yardsale. One of their tips is to bring a roll of toilet paper, for bathroom breaks in the great outdoors. Really? I would have thought that the AARP would suggest just throwing on a Depends, which is my wonderful idea. Because if you're taking time for a bathroom break, that means you are an amateur and you are wasting valuable yardsaling time.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to test out my time-saving tip this year since I already have other plans scheduled for that weekend. (Don't get me wrong, I WILL be yardsaling that weekend, just not there.)

================My $8 avocado green thrift store KitchenAid mixer got a workout this week. I feel so Martha Stewarty with my KitchenAid. It works like a champ. I made Oatmeal Scotchies one day (DH's favorite). Then when I realized that Whiskey liked them, I made a batch of regular oatmeal cookies for Whiskey. I got a ton of oatmeal to use up (gotten free with coupons of course) and making cookies pretty much the only use I know of to use oatmeal. It's not like I'm gonna eat it for breakfast.

But in the cookie making process, I broke the oven. Sort of. Somehow the hinge thing isn't working right on the oven door. The builders-grade oven turns 19 this month. It was 19 years ago this month that we bought the house and made podunk Lusby our home. I think it may be time for an oven make-over.

===============I saw a McDonald's commercial on tv today saying that this Sat & Sun (June 20 & 21) you can get a free small hot or medium iced McCafe at participating McDonalds. No purchase necessary - limited one per person per visit. good all day long. As usual, your mileage may vary (so don't complain to me if your McD isn't participating). Ughggh...coffee....why can't they give out free Diet Pepsi?

=================The above pic is of some Stargazer (I think) daylillies I have that are currently in bloom. That reminds me, I have a $3 container of red day-lillies I need to plant somewhere. I bought the red ones at plant sale/yardsale back in May.

=================Not a whole lot of buying going on this week. Not because I don't want to, but I can't shop as well when I have Jacob with me. So no thrift shopping. Have been stopping in at Walgreens for the $2.99 St. Ives shower soap (basically free after the $3 in Register Rewards.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Here's some of the stuff I bought yesterday. If you want to know the prices, I mentioned the prices in my Youtube video below. Some stuff I forgot to include (like a new Aveeno lotion/bath set $1, Minnesota Vikings keychain (.25) - I've already gift wrapped it for Jacob to give to DH next Sunday. DH already got the golf GPS, but this will be something for DH to open and gush over from Jacob.

For Jacob's last day of school, I took an unused mylar balloon (bought at a yardsale for .25) and had the grocery store florist fill it with helium for .50. Poor Whiskey dog got the ribbon tangled on his leg and was walking around with it.

And as I said yesterday, I scored free tickets to a demolition derby at Potomac Speedway thanks to Heather and T-bone at Star 98.3 It would have cost $45 for admission for the 3 of us if we had paid. It was fun to go to as a one time event, but I doubt we'd ever be regulars. I am not a car racing person but watching cars get smashed up for one evening was fun. Here's a pic of a Stool Bus.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

School is out for the summer. I had to get my shopping fix in this week to last for a while. I don't go thrifting nearly as often during the summer. But of course I was at the yardsales this morning.

Also stopped at the grocery store this morning to get a prescription filled for DH. The other day I noticed he had a huge red rash on his back - where he said a tick had bit him a few weeks ago. So I'm like, you got Lyme disease. Ticks suck. The doc confirmed it and got a prescription for antibiotics. I remembered one of our grocery store pharmacies is offering free antibiotics so I took the script there for filling. (He would have gone himself yesterday after the dr's appt, but forgot since he had an afterwork get-together. He has priorities, you know.) As it turns out the pharmacy only gives out 2 weeks worth of free antibiotics and he needs three weeks. So I thought a while and figured I would cough up the extra $5 so he could get the full 3 weeks of medicine. I'm generous that way - I'm going to tell him it's his Father's Day gift. (Kidding aside, I bought him some stupid $200 golf GPS off ebay for his gift - it came in the mail today and he's already playing with it). And today at a yardsale I found a new Minnesota Vikings keychain for .25 that I will box up and wrap for Jacob to give to him next Sunday.

That's what I bought yesterday. $1 AirZooka, .50 puzzle, $1 Lacrosse goggles, $1 each - two wig stands for ebay, $2 grating cones that I think go to a Saladmaster grater. That is one brand name I always look for when shopping.

I haven't taken any pics of the stuff I bought today (maybe I'll edit this post tomorrow and add a pic then).

My most unusual buy today was a Southwest Airline coupon drink book for $2. So that means the next time I fly Southwest, I'll be consuming some adult beverages. I plan on flying Southwest this fall.

Oh, I forgot to mention, when I was at the grocery store, the local radio station was broadcasting live - and saying how they had all these giveaways etc. So...after weighing my options (free Kings Dominion tix, minor league baseball tix, movie tickets etc - I went with free Demolition Derby tickets. I think Jacob will like seeing the cars crash. Kings Dominion tickets would have been good too, but that would require more planning since KD is about a 2 hour drive away. And Jacob doesn't really like rides.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It was very tempting, but I didn't buy it. So instead I just took a pic. There are no schools around here (that I know of) that are called the Wildcats. Maybe that can be my next challenge, find the school that has or had a Wildcat challange.

I spent $12.25 at my thrift. The joke book is from the 50's, published by Random House. Totally politically incorrect. The jokes are not funny but I think the cover is with the stodgy-looking old man on it. And no, I'm not a Nats fan, but it is a brand new hat (with the $18 price tag still inside). We have two nights at a hotel to spend at The National Harbor sometime before the end of September so I can wear it then and look like a local.

So...I'm at Smile today and guess what? I was recognized by a blogger reader from a nearby town - AND I wasn't even wearing my crown! But I was wearing this fine piece of couture which the reader had remembered seeing. She was nice and didn't hound me for pics and autographs the way most people do.

Before I forget, here is the Washington Post article I swear, the next time the Post interviews me, I'm gonna do some negotiating beforehand. First, give Lusby a shout-out at least. Secondly I want a free lifetime subscription AND I want a ton of extra coupons in my Sunday paper. I don't think that is asking too much. Here is the article that appeared in November November article

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Today was the day Jacob's class had show and tell for pets so I brought Whiskey to school. He did great except for the part about taking a dump outside of the school afterward in a grassy area near the parking lot (yes, I scooped poop). At least he waited until afterward.

I brought him back home and then later went back and had lunch at the school. (I made myself one of my favorite sandwiches. Probably the best I ever invented - the delicious PB&J&F (peanut butter & jelly & Frito sandwich). It was either that or buy a Rib-B-Cue sandwich from the lunch line and I wasn't going to do that. The teacher told me a funny story - months ago when the school had "Grandparent's Day", she asked the kids what sorts of things do they take when they go to visit their grandparents. Jacob said Whiskey. (Ironically, Whiskey is not named after the fine beverage, it was because of his long whiskers/beard. And Whiskers sounded too much like a cat's name).

One of Jacob's classmates is partially deaf so he has a sign language interpreter with him. The interpreter told me today was a "first" for her. Teaching a child how to sign the word for "Whiskey".

All my pics from today are blurry since he wouldn't stand still.

==================

There's the shirt I got with my $10 Penney's coupon. It will be a good back-to-school shirt for Jacob. Will also be a good golf shirt since DH is planning on taking Jacob out on the course again soon (most golf courses require a collared shirt be worn).

Here's my video from yesterday. I forgot to mention in the video that I also bought the little wooden folding snack tray for $2. It will make a good little check-out table for my next yardsale. And the condensed milk cookbook was .40

And I made a VERY low-tech video of the radio clip that ran on CNBC Radio last month (since in my previous link, you had to download it and I know I am always suspicious of downloading stuff so I guess others would be too). So instead, you can just hear it on Youtube now.

Monday, June 08, 2009

I've been meaning to post this for a while now but kept forgetting. One of my advertisers Sassy Signs is running a special for FREE shipping when you buy a multi-pack of 4 or 6 yard or garage sale signs.

Just wanted to share that info in case anyone was thinking of getting some signs. Even if you aren't going to be buying any signs lately, join their mailing list and be in the running to win some free signs.

p.s. I did hit a thrift store today (plus retail shopping) but I don't have time to upload the video. Hopefully I'll post it tomorrow (plus a link to a Washington Post interview I did today)

Sunday, June 07, 2009

It poured all day on Friday. Rain like that puts a damper on those who were thinking of having a last minute/unadvertised yardsale on Sat. It was very cloudy and had cool temps (love it!) on Saturday and I know some people postponed/rescheduled their yard sales.

But there were still enough for me to get my "fix" in for the week. Overheard at one yard sale (shopper woman talking to her kids) "So....do you kids want to stop at some more yard sales OR go home and clean house?"

Here's a little video of some of my buys. One of the yardsales I went to had one of our county's animal control van sitting in the driveway (so I assume they get to drive it home on the weekends). I went to their sale, but didn't buy anything. Ha - I showed them!!

Dang it! I keep forgetting to call Whiskey by his new name, Bob, or Bill or whatever I said I was going to change it to.

Then today DH went golfing to a further away golf course (rather than the local course) so...that means I vegged out all morning (and a lot of the afternoon) watching stuff I had taped on our DVR. I watched Juno and actually stayed awake. I notoriously fall asleep during movies. In the afternoon I took Jacob to an annual local event called Children's Day at the Farm at Jefferson Patterson Park It would be fun, if there weren't so many kids there.

On the way home I called and picked up a free Papa John's pizza for dinner. My frequent pizza eater card (or whatever they call it) had been fully stamped so that entitled me to a free large one topping pizza.

This is my last week to get some shopping done (since its the last week of school). When school is out, I don't hit my Walgreens every day (at least it seems like I'm there everyday) and I don't take Jacob thrifting. He is not a good shopper. BUT once summer camp starts in July, I'll be able to get some shopping in. Then school starts up again in August, so before you know it it will be back to school time.

I know I'll be doing some JC Penney's shopping this week sometime. A $10 off a $10 purchase coupon came in the mail the other day. (Like I said in a previous post, I have NO idea how or why I get these coupons. I don't even have a JC Penney's credit card).

Friday, June 05, 2009

I stopped at Smile today and didn't buy a thing. So I did the best next thing. I got a free $10 at Walgreens. Gotta love a store that will practically pay you to shop.

Ok, the deal is ridiculously good this week. They have Bayer Glucose Monitors on sale for $10. No I don't need one. But I can sell it at my next yardsale or I can donate it somewhere or ebay it or do whatever with it. A few weeks ago, there were coupons in the Sunday coupon packets that read "Save up to $30 on a Bayer Glucose Monitor". So the cashier uses the coupon and takes $10 off. Then the coupon machine (called a Catalina in the world of couponing) spits out a coupon to save $10 off my next shopping order.

So...I get a free glucose monitor PLUS $10 off my next shopping order. And I paid nothing out of pocket. Sweet! This was my second time taking advantage of this offer this week.

After Walgreens, I spotted a wet yardsale sign flopping in the wind. So I stopped to read it - and took of a pic of beautiful downtown Lusby. In case you don't know what that big box thing is, its an ancient relic called a phone booth. There is a telephone inside that you can use (after depositing coins) to make telephone calls when you are not in your house. Cellphones??? We don't need no stinkin cellphones here! We have phone booths!

One of my message board people bought a pallet of random merchandise a while back (not sure from what company she used), I think she had a ton of fun rummaging through it. I think it would be a blast to do. Maybe the next time I am in Los Angeles, I can stop by their warehouse and just look.

p.s. a computer tip if animated graphics are distracting to you - just hit your ESC key and it will freeze the graphic.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

There's what I bought today. And I got an audio copy of the CNBC Business Radio short commentary that aired over Memorial Day weekend to a bunch of radio stations all over. Ummm..I hope you can listen to it. Will try to figure out an easier way to post it.

Yardsalequeen.com

I have a wide variety of interests: going to yard sales, garage sales, thrift stores, estate sales and rummage sales. After I had my son Jacob in 2000, I quit my job at a nuclear power plant after almost 10 years. Now I just sit home, eat bonbons and watch Ellen while I plan my strategy to hit next week's yardsales. Laugh. Dance. Yardsale.